Robert Brown/I. The Heraldic Unicorn
|next= }} The science of Heraldry has faithfully preserved to modern times various phases of some of those remarkable legends, which, based upon a study of natural phenomena, exhibit the process whereby the greater part of mythology has come into existence. There we find the solar Gryphon,Vide , I. 334 et seq.; ii. 58-9. 'A male Griffin is distinguished by two straight horns rising from the forehead, and rays of gold which issue from various parts of the body' (Cussans, 93), the horned and radiate Sun (vide cap. IX. sec. iii. Taurokerôs). the solar Phoenix,Vide , The Archaic Solar-Cult of Egypt, in the Theological Review, Oct. 1878, p. 525. 'a demi-eagle displayed issuing from flames of fire,'Cussans, 95. the solar Lion, and the lunar Unicorn, which two latter noble creatures now harmoniously support the Royal Arms. I propose in the following pages to examine the myth of the Unicorn, the wild, white, fierce, chase Moon, whose two horns, unlike those of mortal creatures, are indissolubly twisted into one; the creature that endlessly fights with the Lion to gain the crown (κορυφή) or summit of heaven which neither may retain, and whose brilliant horn drives away the darkness and evil of the night, even as we find in the myth that 'venym is defended by the horn of an Vnicorne.The Boke of Saint Albans'', xliii. As the Moon rules the sea and water,Vide so the horn of the Unicorn is said to purify the streams and pools, and we are told that other animals will not drink until this purification is made; for the Unicorn ere he slakes his thirst, like the sinking Moon, dips his horn in water. As the Moon, Artemis-Selene, is the 'queen and huntress, chaste and fair,' so is 'the maiden Unicorne'Spencer, An Elegie for Astrophell. 'in the Classical and Middle Ages the emblem of chastity.'Fosbroke, ii. 1022. 'Their inviolable attachment to virginity, has occasioned them to become the guardian hieroglyphic of that virtue.'Dallaway, Inquiries into the Origin and Progress of the Science of Heraldry in England, 1793, p. 421. According to Upton, quoted by Dallaway, the Unicorn 'capitur cum arte mirabili. Puella virgo in sylva proponitur solaque relinquitur, qui adveniens depolita Omni ferocitate casti corporis pudicitiam in virgine venerator, caputque suum in sinu puellae imponit, sicque soperatus deprehenditur a venatoribus et occiditur, vel in regali palatio ad spectandum exhibetur.' Dallaway conjectures that 'the tester or armour for horses' heads in the centre of which a long spike was fixed, suggested the idea of a beast so defended by nature.' With respect to this view it may suffice to remark that the Unicorn is found on the archaic Cylinder-seals of Babylonia and Assyria,Vide as well as on the Horn of Ulf,Vide Frontispiece. And whereas 'the Chanfron with a spike projecting from it was adopted in 1467; probably this is the earliest date.'Fosbroke, ii. 892. The Testiere is first mentioned in the time of Edward I., and 'Chanfrons or Champfreins, pieces of steel or leather to cover the horse's face,'Ibid. 878-9. came into vogue about the end of the thirteenth century. Chanfrous is an obsolete north-country term meaning very fierce.Halliwell, Dict. of Archaic and Provincial Words, in voc. The Lion is the only animal that appears on the shields in The Roll of Arms known as the Roll of King Henry III.; the Unicorn, however, although not found on any shield in The Roll of Karlaverok, is mentioned by the herald who composed the MS. Siege de Karlaverok, now in the British Museum. He says:— Robert le seignour de Cliffort, A ki raisons donne confort De ses enemis emcombrer, Toutes les foiz ki remembrer Ki puet de son noble lignage. Escoce pregn à teismoignage, Ke ben e noblemen commence, Cum cil ki est de la semence Le Conte Mareschal le noble Ki par dela Constentinoble A l'unicorn se combati E desouz li mort le abati. Robert the lord of Clifford, To whom reason gives consolation To overcome his enemies, Every time he calls to memory The fame of his noble lineage. He calls Scotland to bear witness, That he begins well and nobly, As one who is of the race Of the noble Earl Marshall, Who beyond Constantinople Fought with the Unicorn And struck him dead beneath him.Wright, The Roll of Caerlaverock, 11-12. }} The Gryphon, it may be observed, appears in the Roll as a Charge:— Symon de Montagu, Ke avoit baniere e escu De inde, au grifoun rampant de or fin. Simon de Montagu, Who had a banner and shield Blue, with a griffin rampant of fine gold.Wright, The Roll of Caerlaverock, 17. }} Sir Harris Nicholas observes that 'the exploit which is said to have been performed by the Earl Marshall at Constantinople in slaying a unicorn, which probably referred to a tradition familiar at the time of some deed of one of the Marshall family in the Holy Land,' is not 'elsewhere commemorated.'The Siege of Carlaverock, 186. In opposition to the opinion that the Unicorn could be captured by means of the stratagem above mentioned, it was more generally held that, like the Gryphon,'The Griffon having attained his full growth, will never be taken alive' (Guillim, 259). 'the Unicorne is never taken alive; and the reason being demanded, it is answered, that the greatnesse of his mind is such, that he choseth rather to die than to be taken alive.'Ibid. 176. The real reason why both Gryphon and Unicorn are safe from capture is sufficiently obvious. Cnut is said amongst other 'naval devices,' to have 'exhibited unicorns, centaurs, dragons, lions, dolphins, and human figures. The swift unicorn, either Anglo-Saxon or Dane, was obliged to fly before the two Normal leopards [or perhaps "lions"Vide Scott, Lord of the Isles, vi. 35. Also Cussans, 79, upon the quaestio vexata whether the Shield of England originally bore Lions or Leopards.]. Hence the naturalization of the emblematical unicorn in Scotland, and its return into England under the Stuart dynasty.'Brunet, Regal Armorie of Great Britain, 219. 'The earliest extant example of the unicorn as a supporter in the royal arms of Scotland, appears to be that which occurs in the royal achievement carved above the gateway of Rothsay Castle. The Lyon king of arms, who examined it carefully last summer, told me that this carving appeared to him to be contemporaneous with the part of the building in which it is inserted, which, considering the style of the architecture and various entries in the Exchequer Rolls relative to the building of Rothsay Castle, he was disposed to assign to the time of Robert II. or III. 1380-1400. In 1486 or 1487 two gold coins were struck, value respectively 18''s.'' and 9''s., and called the unicorn and half-unicorn, from the circumstance that they bore on one side the figure of a unicorn sejant supporting the royal escutcheon. In the same reign—that of James III.—we first find unicorn pursuivant.'Letter from Thomas Dickson Esq., dated July 1. 1880. The following instances (amongst many) exhibit the Unicorn as a Charge:— * The Arms of Sir John Rest, Lord Mayor of London in 1516, are Azure, on a Fess, between 3 Crosses Milroine, Or, a Unicorn couchant, Gules. This position of the Unicorn is very unusual. Mythologically, the bronze-red setting Moon. * The Family of Harling bore Argent, a Unicorn Sejant, Sable; mythologically the Moon in eclipse. * The Family of Musterton bore Gules, a Unicorn with dexter leg raised, ''i.e., tripping, Argent; mythologically, 'the Moon walking in brightness.'Job, xxxi. 26. * The Family of Farrington bore Sable, 3 Unicorns, Current, Argent, 1 & 1 & 1; mythologically, the wild white Moon of triple aspect,Vide flying through the dark clouds. * The Family of Shelley bore Gules, 3 Unicorn's heads couped, by 2 & 1. The Tincture of the Unicorn is generally Argent, i.e., the ordinary colour of the Moon, Leukotheê, 'the White-goddess,'Vide the Semitic Lebhânâ, the Pale-shiner, as distinguished from the burning, golden Tammuz-Adonis, the Akkadian Dumuzi or 'Only-son' of the diurnal heaven.'Vide , I. 256. 'The proper colour of the moon we in Heraldry take to be Argent, both for the weakness of the light, and also for the distinction betwixt the blazoning of it and the Sun; and therefore when we blazon by Planets, we name Gold Sol, and Silver, Luna.Guillim, 111. One of two Crests in which the Unicorn appears are of special interest inasmuch as most archaic ideas seem to have been unconsciously preserved in them. Thus:— * The Crest of the Bickerstaff Family is the Sun with sable rays (i.e., the nocturnal sun), surmounted by a Unicorn rampant, i.e., the nightly triumph of the Moon over the Sun. In a variant form of this device the Unicorn is statant. * The Crest of the Curteis Family is a Unicorn passant, between four trees; mythologically, a most interesting allusion to the archaic myth of the Grove of the Underworld.Vide The Heraldic Moon is either Increscent, i.e., the new moon with horns turned towards the dexter side of the shield; in Complement, i.e., the full moon; Decrescent, i.e., the waning moon with horns turned towards the sinister side of the shield; or in Detriment, i.e., when eclipsed.Vide In this state it is emblazoned Sable. The Face in the OrbVide secs. , is shown at times. James I. introduced the (Scottish) Unicorn, argent, as the Sinister Supporter of the Royal Arms; and Guillim describes the Arms of Charles I. as 'supported by a Lyon rampand, SOL: and an Unicorn, LUNA. '' 440. The Throne is thus represented as firmly established as the course of nature. ---- |next= }} Category:The Unicorn: A Mythological Investigation